Let the Copyright Fights Begin! Google's First Battle Over YouTube Copyright Issues

With Google's acquisition of YouTube this week, many speculated that the search giant could very well face a string of lawsuits over copyright issues. Well, not even a week has passed since the big news and the first potential copyright lawsuit rears its ugly head. Who is the first contender? None other than Time Warner. Dick Parsons, chairman and chief executive of Time Warner, says his group would pursue its copyright complaints against the video sharing site YouTube.com.

In an article at The Guardian, Parsons states, "You can assume we're in negotiations with YouTube and that those negotiations will be kicked up to the Google level in the hope that we can get to some acceptable position." He goes on to say, "We'd like to have our content displayed on these platforms, but on a basis that it respects our rights as the owner of that content."

Valleywag commenting on Parson's statements says, "Time Warner will likely push for a legal agreement that allows its content on YouTube, rather than just suing like mad. Which, along with YouTube's many recent music and video distribution and infringement amnesty deals, means the startup has done what no one else could do: Get old media to embrace open content."

This is the first of what many claim could be string of legal issues concerning content submitted to YouTube by users. However, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley, plays down copyright infringement fears - "We're committed to developing tools to identify the content and monetize it so content owners can have a new outlet for their content."